Water chiller ideas?

[OldMedUser]

as for what u did almost 100% right .......u forgot tho about moisture build up what u have there is a mold breeding ground from the condensation water spills ....there is always a water barrier in place before they lay anything like that to avoid just that in the construction trade .......u want to remove that bleach wash the outside of it to kill anything go get foam board 1 inch thick build a box around it on 5 sides and then paint the top of the tote in flat white paint (rem to scar the lid so it does not flake)...now and then spray down the side with a 1bleach to 4 water part mix after while the bleach will make crystals and then u do not have to worry about it anymore anytime it gets wet for spores the crystals will go liquid and kill on contact

the big trouble for u now is the top as it is blue and i am not sure the mil thickness .......the light is still able to get direct exposure to the lid so it is absorbing some of the light waves heating it up above the air temp .....the other thing is the color it allows blue if the thickness is under 70mils it will allow light to pass into the roots and can cause algae and other bad micros to grow and effect your plants

u will hate me less

There has never been any mould between the insulation and the tub walls nor have I ever had any algae in any of the 40+ DWC tubs I have run since 2001 so the plastic must be thick enough to block all of the light spectrum algae needs to grow. Once the plants get a foot tall their foliage blocks the light from hitting the lid anyways. If a 400W over the bare lid doesn't make algae grow I think I'm OK doing what I'm doing.

Doesn't matter how you prep the surface of the lid even special paints for plastics will flake off after short use. If I wanted to cover it well I'd use that shiny aluminum tape on a well sanded lid. It sticks to plastic quite well.

Sorry to hear about the bi-polar. That's a roller coaster ride I'd rather not take. I've had chronic depression for 38 years now that started after a near fatal hammer attack where I was on the wrong end of the hammer. Doctor counted 32 blows to my head and another 20 or so on each arm from blocking the flurry of blows coming from a 400lb man kneeling on my chest. Sleep paralysis nightmares 3x a night for months, All the valium and demerol I wanted and I ended up almost eating my shotgun after 6 months of abusing those with copious amounts of hard liquor. Years of trying every toxic pill the idiot doctors prescribed when the depressions got so deep that checking out seemed the only option. That happened in '78 and my life was changed forever and not for the good.

My depression isn't manic at all but maybe I could get things done if I had a bit of that, Mine is a slow slide into the darkness over a period of months. I'm sure it's PTSD but the therapist I saw for a year and a half a few years ago kept harping on about issues with my dad. Sure we had a crappy relationship but in my late 20s we got to be pretty close and had plans to spend the summer going fishing in the ocean on the new 19ft cabin cruiser he had traded in the 16 footer for. He died of the cancer he'd been fighting for 5 years before he could take delivery of the new boat. We had worked out our past problems and I had told him how much I loved him and he did the same. I have nothing but fond memories of dad now and mom and I often reminisce about him. He died in '86, a year before he was to retire early at the same age I am now, 62. A decorated veteran of WWII that served in the Canadian navy for the duration of the war in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters and well deserving of respect from me or anyone else.

Don't think that I hate you. Hate only hurts the hater and I got no time for that. I kinda hate how much this thread has gone off the rails but I don't get all butt-hurt over stuff like that.

PS: Have you ever checked out HomeDistiller.org? Lots of good stuff there for the hobbyist and pro. Try distilling butane with two flat-bottom boiling balls and some copper tubing running into the deep freeze. I get more mileage out of my 9x filtered stuff when doing a run of BHO.

 

[OldMedUser]

I understand metal will get cold and better to chill the water, but what about a regular old garden hose? Or one of them hoses that the sprayer thing on the sink hooks up to?

The little fountain pumps I use to circulate my nutes can take 3/8 or 1/2" tubing but the 1/2" is too thick to coil as tight as it has to so it can fit in the chiller tank without collapsing. I use that clear plastic food grade tubing.

No matter how you look at it metal is a much better conductor of heat. Copper and aluminum are out if nutes are to be circulated through them as they will corrode in the weak acid and dump their metal ions into the mix. If plants liked pH7+ then it should be alright but that wouldn't work for the plants. Stainless steel is about the only option available and a lot harder to work with. It can also leach contaminants into the nutes unless it's food or surgical grade and I'm not all that sure about their purity with nutes either.

 

[Shroominnm]

before i came here to do this i was a distiller

the general idea is sound but the equipment used for it is under powered ...ttystikk is 100% correct

a mini firg is 100% the wrong equipment to use .....the simple fact is u are using air transfer to cool it which is the one of the most ineffective way unless u are passing high volume of air over it with fins to increase the cooling like house ac condensers or car radiators

the 2nd thing is the amount of coil vs the power of the pump .......to little coil to strong of pumps


for this method to work on a lvl that would actually be useful there is 1 way to do it but the electrical cost/build cost of doing it more then the cost of a piece of gear designed to do it

the 1 way to do it is simple u need a large chest deep freezer modified with a water proof liner .....then would need to coil the loops tighter to get more area in there and have several coils in there to prolong the exposure ....then u need to fill the freezer with water half way up so half of each coil is locked in ice .......then it just matter of little math on the amount of water vs the speed of the pump.......and the piping to do this needs to be stainless steel (copper is antimicrobial .....it kills the little guys it is one of the reason Egyptian cites worked they used copper for piping killing off the stuff before they drank it....other was beer )


your 2 big reason for DYI does not work pass the frozen water bottles or the ground trick
1 the cost of energy to keep a freezer like that when u are adding in heat ...means the system will run as long as pumps are running warm water in
2 the cost of stainless steel piping the tools to turn into a working coil ......even working with fittings u need to tig wield it together

before anyone thinks of getting a old car radiator and making something out of it......DO NOT they use lead in all of them to build them the PH would leach lead into the feed and pass that to the roots and the plant ........u will go mad it does really fucked up shit to brain .....I REPEAT DO NOT USE A RADIATORS FROM CARS FOR ANYTHING TO DO WITH WEED OR SHINE

To your last part-- ive never heard this, but you make a really good point about there being lead in them..i have used small power steering pump (bought new from amazon last year) to chill multiple resevoirs, just run the cold water through it, throw it in a res and there ya go.. your making me rethink my idea lol i dont want mad cow disease or something

 

[joey.bagadonuts]

I use a frozen water bottle in the bucket that I switch out 3 times a day.

I also keep a frozen water bottle on the outside of the bucket. Check my grow journal for pictures. You can see how I've been handling temps

 

[ttystikk]

On the subject of car radiators, @justugh is spot on; I've used them with success but only because my chilling circuit is separate from nutrient solution and the two never mix.

 

[ttystikk]

There has never been any mould between the insulation and the tub walls nor have I ever had any algae in any of the 40+ DWC tubs I have run since 2001 so the plastic must be thick enough to block all of the light spectrum algae needs to grow. Once the plants get a foot tall their foliage blocks the light from hitting the lid anyways. If a 400W over the bare lid doesn't make algae grow I think I'm OK doing what I'm doing.

Doesn't matter how you prep the surface of the lid even special paints for plastics will flake off after short use. If I wanted to cover it well I'd use that shiny aluminum tape on a well sanded lid. It sticks to plastic quite well.

Sorry to hear about the bi-polar. That's a roller coaster ride I'd rather not take. I've had chronic depression for 38 years now that started after a near fatal hammer attack where I was on the wrong end of the hammer. Doctor counted 32 blows to my head and another 20 or so on each arm from blocking the flurry of blows coming from a 400lb man kneeling on my chest. Sleep paralysis nightmares 3x a night for months, All the valium and demerol I wanted and I ended up almost eating my shotgun after 6 months of abusing those with copious amounts of hard liquor. Years of trying every toxic pill the idiot doctors prescribed when the depressions got so deep that checking out seemed the only option. That happened in '78 and my life was changed forever and not for the good.

My depression isn't manic at all but maybe I could get things done if I had a bit of that, Mine is a slow slide into the darkness over a period of months. I'm sure it's PTSD but the therapist I saw for a year and a half a few years ago kept harping on about issues with my dad. Sure we had a crappy relationship but in my late 20s we got to be pretty close and had plans to spend the summer going fishing in the ocean on the new 19ft cabin cruiser he had traded in the 16 footer for. He died of the cancer he'd been fighting for 5 years before he could take delivery of the new boat. We had worked out our past problems and I had told him how much I loved him and he did the same. I have nothing but fond memories of dad now and mom and I often reminisce about him. He died in '86, a year before he was to retire early at the same age I am now, 62. A decorated veteran of WWII that served in the Canadian navy for the duration of the war in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters and well deserving of respect from me or anyone else.

Don't think that I hate you. Hate only hurts the hater and I got no time for that. I kinda hate how much this thread has gone off the rails but I don't get all butt-hurt over stuff like that.

PS: Have you ever checked out HomeDistiller.org? Lots of good stuff there for the hobbyist and pro. Try distilling butane with two flat-bottom boiling balls and some copper tubing running into the deep freeze. I get more mileage out of my 9x filtered stuff when doing a run of BHO.

That's one hell of a story, brother. From the outside looking in, my first reaction would be joy that you lived at all... which of course is only a tiny part of the whole experience. I can't even imagine what you went through at the time and later in terms of your recovery... as much recovering as you could, anyway. No one is ever "100% recovered" from something like that. You got some serious balls to stick it out, I admire that kind of courage.

Peace, and as the Vulcan saying goes, long life.

 

[Bigdaddy212]

You know, this is a really strange tack the thread has taken; I mean, who out there is trying to turn a refrigerator into an air conditioner? NO ONE, because we all know refrigerators make lousy/inefficient AC units.

SO WHY THE FUCK ARE Y'ALL TRYING TO DO THE SAME DUMBASS THING WITH CHILLERS?!?!

Seriously, WTF?

They make lots of good chillers these days. What's wrong with buying one and using it as intended?

Most of these homespun mechanical black magic projects never work at all and the rest either burn the fridge compressor out or use multiples of the necessary electricity. Usually both.

Here's the secret; THERE IS NO SECRET! If you want water chilling, do what you did for air temperatures; buy a good quality unit with more capacity than you expect to need. If you disrespect the need for doing it by getting an inadequate unit then don't be surprised when you get shitty results.

/rant

I have to agree with ttystikk after all the time you waste trying to find out if the hack will work you could of bought the equipment to do it right the first saving yourself time and money.. There is no way those hacks keep the water cold enough to long enough I have my chillers set at 66 and the are constantly reading 67 to 68

 

[Shugglet]

Yeah fridges suck as AC/ Chillers. But you know what doesnt suck and is waaaay cheaper? Window AC units and Dehumidifiers. Each can be easily converted into an amazing chiller at fractions of the cost.

Also, its very easy to have your chilling rez separate from nute rez to avoid any leaching problems.

I would imagine a cheap 5000btu AC conversion would be able to cool most small setups without much problem. After all, thats 1500w of cooling power.

 

[Dr.funkenstien]

I am pretty sure I'm going to keep on growing as long as my lungs still work. Working at subway they have cold tables to keep them veggies chilly and I got to thinking. Eventually in my life I think I'd like to get something like that and just tweek it to how I need. I'm sure that would work. Wonder if it's possible to build cheaper....think I'm gonna do some research

 

[420producer]

idk if its been mentioned .? but what i have done is taken a cheap 30.00 CL ,mini fridge and drilled two holes then took the 1/2 in hose all rolled upas much as you can fit in. 2.7 cf. or bigger fridge and ran it as a cheap water chiller about 50.00 bucks and it will keep it at 65 deg.
keep it simple ..

 

[Shugglet]

idk if its been mentioned .? but what i have done is taken a cheap 30.00 CL ,mini fridge and drilled two holes then took the 1/2 in hose all rolled upas much as you can fit in. 2.7 cf. or bigger fridge and ran it as a cheap water chiller about 50.00 bucks and it will keep it at 65 deg.
keep it simple ..

Out of curiosity, how much electricity is your fridge chiller using?

The problem is, a mini fridge has about ~150btu/hr cooling capacity. They are also not designed to constantly be run. Id be very curious of the reliability factor of a fridge chiller.

If its all you got thats one thing, but if you can get your hands on an AC unit it will be far far more reliable and efficient.

 

[420producer]

Out of curiosity, how much electricity is your fridge chiller using?
i used in a basement and was able to run 100 feet of line coiled in took all the crap out of it, shelves on door . and door on the freezer to expose more of its and if i did not keep a pump running all the time it would freeze and ice chucks came out . not sure on its btu . but 150btu seem a lil small. its at my old spot being used right now and ill find out but its been going strong for about a year.. now here is the thing i had to make sure that tank . i used a 40 res.. lights off room was 65 to 67 deg. while lights on res room went to 75 room temp res never got ant light so yes if you were to start at say 75 and room went to 85?? then the best you could get is say 80. using my set up.. but if was able to keep that area cool then all you need too worry about how many buckets being expose to light . and how well they are insulated.. i wrapped mine with white panda film and used only 12 3 gal buckets so in my situation. it helped from having to put any ice bottle in each bucket. and i still used my homes ac when lights come on too. so in no way will my set up keep any water chilled as a stand alone device,
The problem is, a mini fridge has about ~150btu/hr cooling capacity. They are also not designed to constantly be run. Id be very curious of the reliability factor of a fridge chiller. about 10. extra a month.cost wise


If its all you got thats one thing, but if you can get your hands on an AC unit it will be far far more reliable and efficient.

 

[Dr.funkenstien]

Has anyone heard of a plate chiller? I understand it is something used when making home brew. But I don't understand what it is or how it works

 

[ttystikk]

Has anyone heard of a plate chiller? I understand it is something used when making home brew. But I don't understand what it is or how it works

Brazed plate heat exchanger. Don't use one, they're cheap.

 

[justugh]

PS: Have you ever checked out HomeDistiller.org? Lots of good stuff there for the hobbyist and pro. Try distilling butane with two flat-bottom boiling balls and some copper tubing running into the deep freeze. I get more mileage out of my 9x filtered stuff when doing a run of BHO.

yah that site helped me keep from killing alot of ppl ......picked up the apple pie idea from them still can not get the raisen crust taste into it ...mine is like 30% i will not make it anymore for anyone it always ends baddly for ppl that i give that to ......they never listen and stop when i tell them too

glad u got a good one from back in the day if u look at these new ones can see right tho it ...they gone thinner for cheaper ....sorry about the ptsd shit did some time with a few ppl that had it rough shit

 

[legallyflying]

Jesus Christ, so much bad info. from peltier cooler... that might chill a single water bottle to buying an active aqua chiller... you will regret that.

Best bang for the buck.. penguin chiller off of eBay. We ran 8 of them, they are beasts.

DIY... score a good dehumidifier on Craigslist. take shell.off. carefully! Bend the front coil down until it will fit in a tote or cooler. place stainless steel coil in rez, pump water from tote through the coil.

$100 for dehu. $50 for coil

 

[ttystikk]

I have to agree with ttystikk after all the time you waste trying to find out if the hack will work you could of bought the equipment to do it right the first saving yourself time and money.. There is no way those hacks keep the water cold enough to long enough I have my chillers set at 66 and the are constantly reading 67 to 68

THANK YOU. It's only common sense, which seems to be in short supply in this industry sometimes.

 

[cordongreen]

Lots of ways to keep your reservoir cool but the best and easiest is always just gonna be buying a chiller and biting the cost. It's probably going to save you in time and headache when you spread the cost over many many grows anyways.

The Active Aqua ones are pretty solid as are the EcoPlus. I have a 1/10hp unit for my garden and although it was a bit of $ it makes my life a hell of a lot easier.

 

[ttystikk]

Lots of ways to keep your reservoir cool but the best and easiest is always just gonna be buying a chiller and biting the cost. It's probably going to save you in time and headache when you spread the cost over many many grows anyways.

The Active Aqua ones are pretty solid as are the EcoPlus. I have a 1/10hp unit for my garden and although it was a bit of $ it makes my life a hell of a lot easier.

I've had bad luck with Active Aqua- and stay the fuck away from Surna, those fools will make every excuse in the book and leave you high n dry. They don't honor warranties, so buyer beware.

 

[cordongreen]

I've had bad luck with Active Aqua- and stay the fuck away from Surna, those fools will make every excuse in the book and leave you high n dry. They don't honor warranties, so buyer beware.

Good tip. Will be avoiding like the plague!